Liberating the Confined: Correctional Social Work as the Face of Humanity for FDIKOM's Social Welfare Program

By: Study Rizal LK*

In the narrow confines of correctional institutions, human voices sometimes go almost unheard. Those entangled in legal cases are often seen merely as inmates—not as individuals with stories, wounds, and the right to change. Yet, behind all this, there is silent work, largely unknown: the effort to free the confined, not just physically, but socially and humanely. This is where correctional social work takes on its most profound meaning.

This article is a reflection of the General Studium of the Social Welfare Study Program at FDIKOM UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, held on June 12, 2025, at the FDIKOM Auditorium. The event was opened by Dean Prof. Dr. Gun Gun Heryanto, M.Si, and Head of Study Program Ahmad Zaky, M.Si, featuring three important speakers who have been part of the history and future of this study program: Dr. Puji Pujiono, MSW (Chairman of the Central Board of IPSPI), Dr. Siti Napsiyah, MSW (Vice Chairman of APKSI and Social Welfare Study Program lecturer), and Dr. Arief Subhan, M.Ag, former Dean and senior lecturer who co-initiated the birth of the Social Welfare Study Program at FDIKOM.

In the forum, it was officially announced that the Social Welfare Study Program (Prodi Kessos) at FDIKOM has designated Correctional Social Work as its flagship and distinguishing academic field, as well as a specific contribution to the landscape of social work education in Indonesia. This is not merely curriculum reinforcement but an ideological statement that UIN Jakarta, through FDIKOM, takes an active role in addressing social justice issues from the most marginalized spaces: prisons, detention centers, rehabilitation homes, and families on the verge of losing hope.

For the Social Welfare Study Program, the correctional field is not just a branch of expertise. It has become part of a moral and academic commitment to present a liberating, caring, and restorative face of Islam. It is no coincidence that this choice grew from the intellectual womb of Ciputat—a school of thought that from the beginning has sided with the mustadh'afin (the oppressed), with those marginalized socially, culturally, and structurally.

The Ciputat School, inherited from the critical thinking of Harun Nasution, Nurcholish Madjid, and their successors, laid the foundation that Islamic knowledge should not merely reside in an ivory tower but must be present in the pulse of community life. This is the school that shaped da'wah (Islamic propagation) not only as a call from the pulpit but as a concrete action to defend justice and uplift human dignity. In that context, correctional social work emerges as the most tangible field of social da'wah.

Not many realize that prisons are not places where civilization dies; rather, it is there that we are confronted with fundamental questions: does our society still provide space for repentance and recovery, or does it merely wish to discard those who have erred? Social workers who go into correctional facilities, probation offices, and homes of children in conflict with the law are carrying out a cultural and spiritual mission. They come bearing dialogue, not judgment. They listen before speaking, nurturing without condemning. In their hands, the value of Islam as rahmatan lil ‘alamin (a mercy to all creation) materializes into real practice.

Elevating correctional social work as a flagship field is an unpopular decision, but precisely because of that, it shows courage. This campus is not merely producing graduates who seek comfortable jobs but is shaping agents of social change ready to be present in spaces full of wounds. Amidst the clamor for academic prestige, the courage to choose the correctional path demonstrates that FDIKOM and the Social Welfare Study Program have not lost sight of their struggle's direction—namely, da'wah as liberation.

And just as the Ciputat School never ceased to challenge the status quo, correctional social work also continues to pose fundamental questions: can our society truly offer a second chance to those who fall? Must law always mean punishment, or can it be a path to healing? Behind prison walls, these questions become real. And it is there that social workers from Ciputat are present, not to judge, but to accompany the process of becoming a better human being. (srlk)

*** The author is an observer of socio-political religious issues of the Ciputat School. Currently teaching at the Faculty of Da'wah and Communication Sciences, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.